The various embodiments and aspects described herein relate to a machine for wrapping and sealing a product within a thermoplastic film.
A prior art film fin sealing device is used to wrap a product within a thermoplastic sheet, join longitudinal edge portions of the thermoplastic sheet to form a fin seal as well as the leading and trailing sides to fully enclose the product in a bag. The product and the thermoplastic sheet may be passed through a heating oven in order to shrink the thermoplastic sheet to a tight fit around the product. Traditionally, the fin seal is very large in that the fin seal extends away from the product about ½ inch. To form a short fin seal, the large fin seal is slit to a shorter length. Alternatively, a longitudinal seal is formed at the edge portion with the loose edges at the very edge and the loose edges are slit to form a short fin seal. A significant portion of the longitudinal edge portion must be cut and discarded to form the short fin seal. The short fin seal is less noticeable and makes the shrink-wrapped product more aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately, the subsequent slitting step wastes a significant amount of thermoplastic material.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method and machine for reducing the amount of waste produced when shrink-wrapping the product with a short fin seal.